Eola

An "awe-shucks" attitude can make your success all the more impressive (for instance, Tony Romo), and your failures all the more enraging (for instance, That Dumbass Chump Tony Romo). Backing up its relaxed ethos with awesome grub, Eola. Named after a beneficial form of wind erosion -- a choice the owners insist reflects their "loose", breezy attitude toward cuisine -- the two-story Eola actually serves up expertly prepared Italian & French-influenced fare in a yellow-painted, exposed-brick space sporting a ceramic/stone bar, a semi-open kitchen and, upstairs, a massive, 18-seat communal table designed to ensure a "lively atmosphere" despite the absence of wet t-shirt contests. For pre-feasting eating, there're starters like Crudo of Coho Salmon (w/ potato blini, créme fraiche, beets/dandelions/dill) and Char-Grilled Ricotta Salata (w/ petit tomato, melon, basil, toasted almond); entrees run from Pheasant w/ maitake & cippolini, to Pan Roasted Hereford w/ potato confit, madeira & royal trumpet, to the smoky jus'd pork Durok Duo, not to be confused with the even rarer, velociraptor/stegosaurus "Turok Duo". Keeping you loose are cocktails like the Tanqueray Rangpur/lime/mint simple syrup "P Street Gimlet", the Bluecoat/lime/cherry/club soda "Cherry-Lime Gin Rickey", and the Eagle Rare/dry+sweet vermouth/bitters/lemon "Caldicott"; meanwhile, impressively obscure bottled beers include Founder's Dragonmilk Stout, Kasteel Rouge, and North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner, so good you'd whittle an ode to it, if you hadn't just run out of walrus tusks. For bonus fattening, grab desserts from dark mousse/hazelnut Chocolate Crunch Cake to Black Pepper Créme Fraiche Ice Cream w/ herb-roasted market peaches, all of which are listed on the menu as "Sweet Accents" -- or, what the good people of Dallas can fall back on when that Dumbass Idiot does it again.